Birds and Flags

Ann Whitehurst

I just returned from the post office to purchase some stamps for paying bills, even though we already have a couple sheets of the really cool Modern Architecture ones.

Does anyone else feel a sense of waste when using a "pretty" stamp to send off a bill? I feel much better about using the small stamps with boring designs for bill-paying as opposed to the really cool ones with big graphics depicting architecture or cartoon characters.

The utility companies, credit card companies, etc. just aren't worthy of the good stamps, even though they cost the same and are usually just as plentiful as the others.

Ann, I like letters, cards and personal notes to get the best stamps possible and therefore swear by The Postal Store online. For a mere dollar service fee I get a choice of all the stamps designs offered (even the old ones). However I did make a bad choice a while back and bought stamps with Yip Harburg -- the guy who composed "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Those were downgraded to the bills.

Heather, Aug 9 2005 6:07PM

Though, think about how happy the bill collector person is when they see a fun stamp instead of the same old boring antique car, flag or heart. Maybe, just maybe, you'll brighten their day a bit.

Matthew, Aug 10 2005 9:03AM

I have the same dual source of good stamps and bill stamps. I don't send out much "good" mail, so the good stamps just sit in the bottom of the inbox. I think I still have a few good stamps from before the rate increase (32 cents?) of Enrico Fermi, collecting dust. What a waste.

for our business, we insist on using stamps (instead of a meter) on all of our correspondence, even invoices. large envelopes, however, may get metered postage since they require 6 or more stamps. we generally have a wide variety of stamps but try to only select ones that we find visually appealing.

most if not all of our bills are paid online so no stamp necessary.

i recently received some free address labels from clemson university. rent or any other bill now gets a pre-printed return label instead of handwritten.

Ann, Aug 12 2005 1:34PM

I use the free pre-printed address labels for bills, too. Also, I forgot to mention that whenever I put a stamp or address label on a bill, I always put it on crooked...just an extra little "jab" for taking my money!

ann, i don't quite know how to put this...there's this thing al gore invented called "the internet." (i know, it sounds crazy.) but get this...you can actually pay your bills online, without going to the post office. without stamps of any kind!

way to stick it to the man, ann. i bet the postmaster general has a special file for all your bill related hyjinx. your jab won't seem so uppity when the secret service comes crashing through your door. mail is not a game.

Ann, Aug 16 2005 10:19PM

Mr. Needl: Is the "internet" the same thing as the "world wide web" that I hear so much about these days?

Mark: You've got me scared. From now on, I'll be using a t-square to place my stamps. I don't want to raise any red flags with crooked (sometimes I go so far as to place them UPSIDE DOWN), stamps.

ann, if you're using u.s. flag stamps, make sure you don't stick them upside-down. that would amount to desecrating the flag, and you could be arrested.

Ann, Aug 17 2005 11:35PM

I guess I'm pretty lucky for getting away with these stamp-shenanigans for so long. Perhaps I should clean up my act while I'm ahead.

Matthew, Aug 18 2005 8:47AM

I paid bills last night (with flower stamps and Nature Conservancy address labels)) and I was careful not to place anything upside down or skewed, as always. I thought of a stamp design campaign to combat this potential revenue loss to the US postal service of internet bill paying. What if the US postal service released a special series of stamps specifically for paying bills? The stamps could feature obscene and/or anti-establishment graffitti, blackspoitation film stars, etc... If you were able to send a message like "Here's your money, but I am happy to pay an extra 37 cents through the US Postal Service to tell you to shove it up your ass." Who would pay online if you could do that?